Madras High Court’s brave judgment on creative freedom: Why not extend its remit to all banned books?

The July 5 judgment of the Madras High Court, delivered by chief justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Pushpa Sathyanarayana, opens with Voltaire’s stinging defence of free speech: “I may not agree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.” With these words, the court upholds the literary freedom of Perumal Murugan, author of Mathorubhagan (translated into English as One Part Woman).

Murugan, his translator and publisher have been hounded for the last two years by zealots who wanted to ban the book. The judges say, “The choice to read is with the reader. If you do not like a book, throw it away….Yet, the right to write is unhindered.” Murugan’s novel, about the agony of a childless couple, Kali and Ponna, touches upon many themes including sexuality, social taboo and religious custom. It was critically acclaimed in its original Tamil version, published in 2010. However, zealots got into action when a highly praised English translation appeared in 2014. Murugan was accused of hurting the pride of a region, a community, slandering religion, promoting promiscuity and so on. In an order that ranges across the realms of literature, constitutional rights and freedoms, perceptions of morality, Freud, DH Lawrence, Shamaresh Bose, Kalidasa and much more, the judges say there is no absolute standard of public morality or literary taste: to each her own, and to the writer, the freedom to express his thoughts creatively. If people feel a work of imagination could create social violence, it is the duty of the state to enforce law and order. The same state must also protect freedom of expression.

The judgment says our ancient literature took a more relaxed approach to matters sexual than many contemporary observers. The judges conclude their argument, dismissing all calls to proscribe Murugan’s book, with these brave and noble words: “Let the author be resurrected to what he is best at. Write.” This is a noble sentiment. Will the government have the courage to apply it to several other books that stand banned?

This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Economic Times.